by Meg Pelliccio

Hard in Hightown has arrived!

Finally, my copy of Hard in Hightown has arrived! This short novel is written by the fictional Dragon Age II and Dragon Age Inquisition character, Varric Tethras (or in reality, Mary Kirby). Amazon has a funny “about the author” section on the book’s page, describing our favourite dwarven rogue. The “critic” quotes on the front and back are also by other Dragon Age characters, Merrrill and Hawke, which is an amusing touch too.

So many people get shivved!Merrill

The way the book is written definitely conjures up memories of Varric’s voiceovers in the games and so is spot on in terms of capturing his character and how he would write. The story is set in Kirkwall and features other well-known ideas and themes from the vast Dragon Age lore. Overall, it’s a tasty little portion of Dragon Age for fans starved of their favourite fictional world.

Though the book is a little shorter than I had anticipated, it has some wonderful illustrations and is still an interesting read. It’s a lovely item to have, especially for a massive Dragon Age fan, like myself. The pages have deckled edges, giving that “olde worlde” feel as if it really were made in Thedas. However the rather modern book cover doesn’t tie in with this, which is a bit of a shame.